"I was pretty good at crashing parties but the other gang members questioned whether I could throw the stones hard enough to break the windows - so they threw me out of the gang," she said.

Nelly also spoke of a near-death experience she had on stage. She revealed: "I thought I was going to die when I fell 10ft off stage. In 2002 I was performing at a big arena in New Orleans. I was in the middle of singing the most sensitive part of I'm Like A Bird when I stumbled and fell 10ft to the ground.

"The crowd seemed to think it was part of the show. 'She's singing about being like a bird and she's trying to fly. How cool.' But I was hurt."

Nelly's latest album, The Spirit Indestructible, was released on September 14.